Sermon: The foremost competition (Heb 12:1-2)

WHAT IS FOREMOST?
The Foremost Competition (Heb 12:1-2)
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2011

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)

When you need to make progress in a particular direction, it is often helpful to have incentive, a goal set before you.

A young lion was chasing a hunter but did not catch him, which caused the older lions to make fun of him. "Well," said the young lion, "you have to remember, I was running for my supper...he was running for his life!"

When you need to make progress in a particular direction, it is often helpful to have incentive, a goal set before you. That is what the author of Hebrews does for his readers. He describes the goal before them, as he explains The Foremost Competition.

In the mid-first century, after Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the believing Jewish community has to sort through different views about him. Is he the pivotal figure in the divine program that some claim, or does he actually fall a bit lower in the cosmic hierarchy, somewhere below angels, even below Moses and Aaron? The author of Hebrews addresses this issue by stressing the messiah's supremacy in many areas, including over angels, Moses, and Aaron. He also says to his readers that they will meet Jesus one day, and he describes their movement toward that goal as...

XIX. The Foremost Competition¹

...which is how believers make...

• The progress (performance, push) toward God (Heb 12:1-2)

Please turn to...

Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is a natural curiosity about what, if anything, lies beyond the pale of death. Do people continue to exist, or do they cease to exist? After people pass from this world, do they have any contact with this world? To satisfy that curiosity, people in the realm of the living have tried to contact people among the dead, despite what mediums today would have people believe. Those attempts have been largely unsuccessful.² In any case, this is contact God strictly forbids, even if it were possible. He says in...

Lev 19:31 Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

So strongly does God despise such activity that He prescribes the death penalty for those guilty of it.

Lev 20:6 As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.... 27a ...a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death.

The restriction goes both ways: Neither side is to have contact with the other.³ That said, it does not mean neither side is aware of the other, far from it.

The Bible teaches that, after death, the righteous go to paradise, a place of comfort (Luke 16:25), and the wicked go to hell, a place of suffering. The New Testament offers a gruesome description of hell's "torment,"⁴ where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth."⁵ There are relatively few details, though, about heaven's bliss.

• What are the redeemed doing up there?

• Are they playing their harps or polishing their haloes?

(By the way, although some saints in heaven do play harps,⁶ their wearing haloes is a product of art in the Middle Ages.) While the living know little about what goes on with the dead, the dead, at least the righteous dead, are quite attentive to what goes on with the living.⁷ For example, when the apostle John sees those who have been martyred during the Great Tribulation, he notes that they are aware of the passage of time and of what has been happening since their death.⁸

Rev 6:10 They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.⁹

Heaven will not wait, of course, until the Great Tribulation to admit believers. Many are there even now and, in chapter 11, the author of Hebrews lists several Old Testament saints known for their faith in God, which is the sole requisite for salvation: Enoch, who "walked with God" (Gen 5:24), Noah, "a righteous man" (Gen 6:9), Abraham, who "was called God's friend" (Jms 2:23), Moses, "the man of God" (Deut 33:1), and many more. Then the author says...

Heb 11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

This "something better" and being "made perfect" is the resurrection that all the righteous will experience at once.¹⁰ Until then, those in heaven are waiting for those on earth to join them.¹¹ More than that, those in heaven are watching those on earth, as spectators watch runners in a race.¹² You are one of those runners, and the author of Hebrews says that...

1. Your race is attended by the redeemed (v. 1).

...by those who already had their turn, have crossed the finish line, and are now watching and waiting for you to join them, this "great cloud of witnesses" (v. 1) that includes all those Old Testament saints the author mentions...and more.

I do not know that Abraham has more than a casual interest in tracking my progress, and while I will certainly enjoy meeting Moses, the reception line to speak with him is probably a mile long. There are others, however, I look forward more to seeing, those who have a more personal interest in my progress—like my grandmother who, when we were in Bible college struggling to make ends meet—shopping for two weeks of groceries with a calculator to make sure we did not exceed our fifty dollar limit—would sometimes, out of her meager resources, send us five dollars in the mail, often when we needed it most. She died before we finished school and entered the pastorate, but I am certain her interest in our progress has not waned. I look forward seeing and thanking her for her investment in us and in the ministry we would have one day. The prospect of that meeting is also encouragement to me to stay on course and not stray from the course, to press ahead and not fall behind.

Who are you looking forward to seeing? It may be a loved one or an old friend.... Someone already in heaven may be looking forward to seeing you, because you influenced or helped that person along the way. There are those at the finish line who are tracking your progress and cheering you on. You do not hear them. You may not even realize their interest in you, but they are there, waiting for you, because your race is attended by the redeemed.... Even more importantly...

2. Your race is advancing toward the redeemer (v. 2).

toward Jesus, who also awaits you at the conclusion of your race. Note what the writer says about him, because the better you know Jesus, the more you will appreciate him and the more you will anticipate meeting him. The author describes Jesus in v. 2, listing three things to keep in mind as you run:

• His support (expectation) of you, as "the author and perfecter of our faith."
• His sacrifice (expiation) for you, having "endured the cross, scorning its shame."¹³
• His sovereignty (session, exaltation) over you, when he "sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

If you keep these before you—his support, his sacrifice, his sovereignty—, over time, your understanding of and appreciation for Jesus will grow, increasing your anticipation of meeting him, enabling you then to stay the course and reach the finish.

There is no question that you are in this race. The only question is: How are you running?

• Are you easily distracted, or do you "throw off everything that hinders?"
• Are you easily discouraged, or do you "run the race with perseverance?"
• Are you easily diverted, or do you stick to "the race marked out" for you?
• Are you easily disoriented, or do you "fix [y]our eyes on Jesus?"

How are you running?

The apostle Paul, who also likens this life to a race, tells believers at Philippi how he conducts himself...

Phil 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Imagine that! There is a prize for us at the end.... Paul also tells Timothy about the prize God's people can expect at the end of a successful run.

2 Tim 4:8 ...there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

As if the privilege of running toward the savior were not enough, there is a prize for reaching the end,¹⁴ which is just like God, to give us more than we deserve.¹⁵

The author of Hebrews says the readers of this book, indeed all believers, are in The Foremost Competition, a race that culminates in heaven with those who have gone before, including the savior. It is definitely worth your best effort. So, how are you running? ...Are you making progress toward the goal? ... Are you giving this race—your final race—your best effort?

Having considered The Foremost Competition, we will look next at The Foremost Compensation, which is receiving in the end the pension from God, in Matt 19:29.

For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)